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Phoenix Rising... again
I thought I was being careful. After slipping back on board the Lollipop, I went about with a makeshift disguise kit and started crafting the look of my new identity. After all, it isn't every day that the most notorious pirate in Lagos dies. Or at least, fakes his death. As soon as I had dyed and tied back my hair into a neat ponytail, the Y.D.U. barged in. They did it quickly, just like I taught them, and I would have been caught completely off-guard had it not been for the large lit mirror I had placed to do the disguise job. I dropped to the floor and felt shards of mirror hit my back as several loud and angry gangers yelled in Chinese and shot up my bedroom. I did a quick flip off the ground, and disarmed the front two with a slice of my spurs. Not too hard, though. I didn't want them to lose any fingers. I barked at them in Chinese, to their surprise. "Umm. Captain? What is going on? Why do you look like a gigolo?" The questions rattled off as quickly as their trigger happy gunfire. "Settle down, settle down. Captain Raptor is dead. Well, not really dead, as you can see for yourself." "What is going on? Are you... a ghost?" "What? What? No, I'm not a ghost. I just need to change my look. A disguise, if you will. Some folks think I'm dead because of a run gone horribly wrong, and I intend to make them think they've got me." "So what, you're going to be a poncy git now?" "Yes, a... wait, there's a Chinese word for 'poncy'?" That was a surprise. The darn Babelfish translated the word so fast, I thought I already knew it. "Umm, yes. Hong Kong was a British colony, after all." "Whatever. I'm going to have to change my name, my face, my public presence. Captain Raptor needs to be dead, at least for the time being." "But Captain Raptor can never die! He's the terror of the... seven? Yes, seven seas." "I'm not actually dead. But whatever, pirates are often more terrifying in legends if people think they are dead. Isn't that right, Scurvy?" "Murr. Stands to reasoning, arr." "But. But, sir. Cap'n. We made all these coins!" howled Paint in despair. "Oh, don't worry about that. I suspect that with the plague and famine and all that, Lagos will continue to need a supply of fresh water, which they'll still exchange their coinage for. Coins often bear the face of dead people, don't you know?" I said, as I slipped on a dark corporate jacket, the finest armored clothing that one could muster in Lagos. "I see... well, I'm sure that the crew will be relieved that you won't be over their shoulders at all times, barking orders at them." "Over their shoulders, eh," I said, looking over the deck contemplating. "That gives me a great idea! You're a genius, absolute genius, Paint!" I clapped him on the shoulders to emphasize the point. Paint beamed outwardly, but on the inside he cringed. I can read that now, that look on his face. He goes all plastic-like. I can tell that he's thinking he doesn't want to be a genius again. Oh, this should be fun to watch. But Paint's idea was sound, basically, perhaps I can stand over the shoulders of the rest of my team virtually, over the Matrix. I can help them read other people like I do, like how the Watcher does. They won't be as good at it, but then again, sometimes I'll need to grift through a place as an Awakened Caucasian scientist, or a Caucasian female nurse. Or god forbid, as a local Ork woman. That'll be the day... But for now... "Gentlemen. It is time that you started to refer to me as the Phoenix. John Phoenix, to be precise." "Rawk. Captain Raptor. Rawk." Stupid bird.